Dehua white porcelain in Japan

Dehua white porcelain in Japan was traditionally known among Japanese as ''hakugorai'' or “Korean White Ware.” Although Korai was a term for an ancient Korean kingdom, the term also functioned as a ubiquitous term for various products from the Korean peninsula. This is not to suggest that historically Japanese were entirely oblivious to the existence of the Fujian province kilns and their porcelain, now known as Dehua or Blanc de Chine ware.

The Dehua kilns are located in Fujian province opposite the island of Taiwan. Coastal Fujian province was traditionally a trade center for the Chinese economy with its many ports and urban centers. Fujian white ware was meant for all of maritime Asia. However a large quantity of these ceramics was intended for a Japanese market before drastic trade restrictions by the mid 1600s. Items were largely Buddhist images and ritual utensils utilized for family altar use. Associations with funerals and the dead have perhaps led to a certain disinterest in this ware among present day Japanese, despite an intense interest in other aspects of Chinese ceramic culture and history.


Many examples of great beauty of this ware have made their way to collections in the west from Japan. Among the countless Buddhist images meant for the Japanese market are those that with strongly stylized robes that show an influence from the Kano School of painting that dominated Tokugawa Japan. It seems a certainty that Dehua white ware was made with Japanese tastes in mind. Perhaps also likely is Japanese taste in the very plain white incense tripods and associated objects for Japanese religious and ritual observance. Of interest also are the Buddhist Goddesses of Mercy with child figures that close resembled Christian figurines. Such figurines were known as Maria Kannon or “Blessed Virgin Goddesses of Mercy” and were part of the “hidden Christian” culture of Tokugawa Japan which had strictly banned the religion.



White porcelain Buddhist statuary was extensively produced in Japan at the Hirado kilns and elsewhere. The two wares can be easily distinquished. Japanese figures are usually closed on the base and a small hole for ventilation can be seen. Hirado Ware also displays a slightly orange tinge on unglazed areas.